Every-day Science: Volume VII. The Conquest of Time and Space

d it rather as a means to an end, than the end itself. That end, it would seem, must be a flying-machine, many times heavier than the atmosphere, but able by mechanical means to lift a

dily understood that for a balloon to acquire any great amount of lifting power it must be of enormous proportions. To attempt to force this great, fragile bulk of light material through the atmosphere at any great r

NE OF M. SA

e balloon. He has experimented extensively, however, with the heavier-than-air type

th aeroplane machines at least a thousand times heavier than the air. In reply, the aviators could point to birds and bats as examples of how the apparently impossible is easily accomplished in nature; while the balloonists could simply point to their accompli

ocity. The difference between the puff of wind that barely lifts a thin sheet of paper from the table, and the tornado that uproots trees and wrecks s

e wind and the size of the surfaces. On a windy day the kite-flyer holding the string and standing still will have his kite pushed upward into the air by the current rushing beneath its surface. On a still day he may accomplish the same thing by running forward with the kite-string, thus causing the surface of the kite to "slide over" the opposing atmosphere. In short, it makes no difference whether the air

e, the skater were to stand upon a cake of ice a foot square for a single second; he would sink, let us say, to his waist in the water. On a cake having twice the surface area, or two square feet, he would sink only to his knees; while if the area of the cake is multiplied ten times the original size, he would scarcely wet his feet in th

portion which is directly under the air-ship would not keep it from falling several yards in the first second, if the ship goes forward so that it run

second, by increasing the speed sufficiently and giving the wings an upward inclination, the air-ship instead of falling might actually rise. And this, a

Y EXPERIMENTS

when the weight is stationary. Thus, contrary to opinions held until recently, and contrary to the rules for land vehicles and ships, the strain of resistance of an aeroplane will diminish instead of increasing with the increase of speed. Professor Langley proved this remarkable fact with a most simple but ingenious device. It consisted of an

wn out until it reached the one-pound mark. When the whirling table was rotated with increasing velocity the arm indicated less and less strain, finally indicating only an ounce when the speed of a flying bird was reached. "The brass plate seemed to float on the air," says Professor Langley, "and not only this, bu

e-power of energy. Since engines could be constructed weighing less than twenty pounds to the horse-power, theoretically such an engine should support ten times its own weight in horizontal flight in an absolute calm. As a matter of fact there is no such thing as an absolute calm in nature, air-current

ENTS IN

in the same degree in a mechanical device, and which man could hope to acquire only by practice. But in the nature of the case man has little chance to learn this art of balancing in the air, and it is for this reason that the many members of the balloonist school advocate the inflated bag in place of the aeroplane. The argument advanced by them is that since man has no chance naturally

ding upon the use only of muscular movements and quickly acquired skill. In this comparison the aviators have all the best of the argument; for it is a common observation that persons who attempt to learn to

NG HOW

currents. The apparatus here shown is being drawn by an automobile, so that its action is virtually that of a kite. This p

why not Helmholtz? Otto Lilienthal, also a German, thought that his fellow-countryman was wrong. For years he had made a study of the flight of birds, and his studies had led him to the same conclusions that have usually been reached by every student of the subject, both before and since-that soar

ice. Lilienthal, therefore, constructed a flying-machine with correctly curved surfaces made of linen stretched over a light wooden frame, the total area being about fourteen square yards, and the whole machine weighing only about forty pounds. In the center was an aperture where the

tion of a similar action of an eagle in leaving the earth, written by a careful observer a few years ago, has become classic. This huntsman had come upon an eagle which had alighted upon the sandy banks of the Nile, and had fired at it, thus stimulating the bird to its utmost energy in getting into flight. Yet on examining the foot-marks made in the sand it was found that, even under these

ntle slope of a hill against the wind, until the requisite momentum was acquired. This was, indeed, a reversion to some of the oldest types of flying-machines, but with this difference-that it was the result of scientific study. The results attained proved that the theory was not visionary-that scientists had not dreamed and studied in vain. For, as lit

was carefully studied, and various changes were made in his apparatus from time to time as experience suggested them. Among other things, feather-like sails, worked by a small motor, were attached to the edge of the wings; and two smaller frames placed one above the other were tried in place of one large frame. And still the operator continued to ma

n. The wind itself tends to direct this motion; but then it must be remembered that my chief object in the air is to overcome the tendency of turning to the right or left, because I know that behind or under me lies the hill from which I started, and with which I would come in rough contact if I allowed myself to attempt this circle-sailing. I have,

s killed by a fall caused by a treacherous gust of wind which ti

t of distrust. It was almost like a bolt from a clear sky, therefore, when the news was flashed around the world that Lilienthal was no more. But science has never yet been daunted by the fear of death. Like a well-formed battle-line in which the place of the fallen is always quickly filled, there is alw

CHINES OF MAX

gy to the construction of a flying-machine. His apparatus was of the aeroplane type, but unlike that of Lilienthal, Chanute, or Hering, was to be propelled by steam-driven screw-propellers. Nor was the apparatus he proposed to make a diminutive affair weighing a few pounds and capable of lifting only the weight of a ma

tance, a maximum flight of over three hundred feet finally being made. This experiment demonstrated several important things-in fact, solved "three out of five divisions of the problem of flight," as Lord Kelvin declared. It demonstrated that a flying-machine carrying it

ombine this complete knowledge in the proper way to produce a practical flying-machine-one that would fly through the air, and continue to fly until the power was exhausted. I

NES OF THE M

like machine shown in the upper figure gained celebrity through its use by M. Latham in the first attempt (in July, 1909) to fly across the English Channel. M. Blériot's aeroplane as finally developed became a very successful flying machine. Wi

eally wonderful machine, which he

nds the body of the machine, in which are the boilers, the engines, the machinery, and the propeller wheels, these latter being not in the position of an

aratus for heating, but allows us to see a little of the coils of the boiler and all of the relatively large smokestack in which it ends. Th

ight is exclusive of that of the engine, which weighs, with all its moving parts, but twenty-six ounces. Its duty is to drive the propeller wheels, wh

nstructed with an almost single eye to economy of weight, not of force, and are very wasteful of steam, of which they spend their own weight in five minutes. This steam might all be recondensed and the water re-used by proper condensing apparatus, but this cannot be easily introduced in so small a scale of construction. With it the time of flight might be hou

hers Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who reported it to the Institute of France. "Through the courtesy of Mr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I have had on various occasions the pleasure of witne

round in large curves of, perhaps, a hundred yards in diameter, and continually ascending until its steam was exhausted, when at a lapse of about a minute and a half, and at a height which I judged to be between eighty and one hundred feet in the air

rote a short time after the success of his flying-machine, "if it does not realize that a new possibility has come to it, and that the great universal highway overhead is soon to be opened." What could be plainer? A machine of a certain construction, weighing some thirty pounds, an

discovery was an "unyielding mathematical law that the weight of such a machine increases as the cube of its dimensions, whereas the wing surface increases as the square." In other words, as the machine is made larger, the size of the wings must be increased in an alarmingly disp

SIBLE ACC

therto enthusiasts, who were now inclined to believe that the practical conquest of the air was almost as far beyond our reach as it had been beyond that of all preceding ge

GHT AER

o break the shock of alighting, are plainly shown. The parallel planes of canvas at the right are horizontal rudders to direct the machine upward or downward. The vertical planes at the left are active rudders to direct the machine laterally. The two paddle-like structures at the back of the machine are the wooden propellers, actuated (at a rate of f

omplished the impossible. Wilbur and Orville Wright-two names that must always be linked with those of Fulton and Stephenson, only possibly on a higher plane as conquerors of a more subtle element-were at that very time making flights in all directions at will through the air

s as a "hélicoptère," which, actuated by twisted rubbers that drive tiny paper screws in opposite directions, actually rises and flutters through the air. "A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in th

ferred to a few pages back. The problem of human flight had not been considered by them at this time, and it was not until the news of Lilienthal's death startled the world that they entered the field of invention in

he existing scientific data, we were driven to doubt one thing after another, till finally, after two years of experiment, we cast it all aside, and decided to rely entirely upon our own investigations. Truth and error were everywhere so intimately mixed as to be in

December 17th, 1903, in the presence of a small company of witnesses who had braved the cold, the Wright machine, carrying one of the brothers, made a short but successful flight-the first ever accomplished in which a machine carrying a passenger had raised itself by its own power, sailed a certain distance in free flight, yet subject to guidance, and landed itself and its passenger safely. Mr. Hiram Maxim'

means completely mastered. The principle was correct, but there were endless details to

ced two horizontal parallel rudders, and at the back two parallel vertical rudders. The machine is mounted on huge skids, which resemble giant sled-runners in shape, but lighter and more flexible, and is driven by two wooden-bladed propellers not unlike some of the types of ship-propellers.

, indeed, a vitally important feature of the mechanism. In this manner a greater lift on the low side and a diminished lift on the high side is obtained, this being maintained manually, as is the fore-and-aft stability. Since the warping of the wings of the machine would tend to deflect it from its course, the apparatus is so arranged that a single lever controls the f

TO ASCEND IN HIS AEROPLANE W

ich this success had been obtained was disclosed, numerous experimenters began copying the Wright brothers' successful machine, making sundry modifications, while still adhering to the main principles through which success had been obtained. The first of these experimenters to win conspicuous suc

hts which demonstrated for all time that the air at last had been conquered, and that they were the unquestionable conquerors. Orville, at Fort Myer, near Washington, on September 12th, electrified the world by flying continuously around a circular course for an hour and fifteen minutes. This was th

achine wrecked it, the resulting fall breaking the leg of the inventor,

earth-bound man had really learned to fly. His longest flight lasted for two hours, twenty minutes, and twenty-three seconds; while by flyin

On July 19, 1909, Hubert Latham attempted a flight across the English Channel, but his motor failed him and his machine plunged into the water, from which, however, he was rescued, havin

MAN AER

c flight hitherto made by a heavier-than-air machine. The Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio, had made numerous flights of far greater length, but the general public was not aware of that fac

,-gave to Blériot's flight a popular interest not exceeded by any preceding achievement even of the Wright brothers. We may add that Blériot's feat was presently duplicated by another Frenchman, Count Jacques de Lesseps by name, who crossed the Channel in an aeroplane in May, 1910; and excelled by the Hon. Charles S. Rolls, an Englis

the year before. On July 27th, 1909, Mr. Wright successfully met the conditions of the endurance test, by flying more than an hour carrying as a passenger Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm. Three days later a more spectacular flight, to a distance of five miles across count

id chief attention. Mr. Wilbur Wright meantime remained in America to give flights about New York Harbor during the Hudson-Fulton Centenary Celebration. On October 4th (1909), he made a sensational flight up the Hudson from Governor's Island, circling about above the warships a

ulhan left London at 5:20 on the evening of April 28, 1910. He descended at Litchfield but renewed his flight early next morning, arriving at Manchester at 8:10. He had covered the distance of 186 miles with a single stop, his actual

he rose to a height of about 4,163 feet, establishing a record for altitude. He had also made thrilling cross-country flig

ES OF BLéRIO

Channel, on July 25th, 1909. The lower shows Latham starting in an attempt to

n o'clock and the aviator arrived at Governor's Island, New York Harbor, at twelve o'clock, having stopped twice on the way to rest and take on fuel. The first stop was made near Poughkeepsie, the second on the heights near the Hudson, within the bounds of New York City. The distance covered 142-1/2 miles; the actual time of flight, 2 hours and 54 minutes,-an average speed of about fifty miles an hour. Parts of the flight were made at a good deal better speed. The first part of the journey from Albany to Poughkeepsie, a distance of 74-1/4 miles, was covered in 1 hour

6 kilometers (109-1/4 miles) across country to the artillery park at Vincennes, which was reached at 7:10. This flight of two and one-half hours' duration was accomplished at a speed of 43-3/4 miles per hour. Captain Marconnet was able to take photographs and make sketches that would have been of great strategic

ISH AE

It has made flights of a mile or more. With minor modifications it is, like al

sland at 7:36 A. M. and landed at Philadelphia at 9:26 A. M., having covered the 86 miles at an average speed of 46.92 miles an hour. After delivering messages from the Governor of New York, and the Mayor of New York City, Mr. Hamilton took wing at 11:33 for the return voyage. A difficulty with his motor made it necessary f

ween the larger planes. These ailerons, being deflected in opposite directions simultaneously, meet any tendency of the machine to tip unduly. Whether or not this method of maintaining lateral stability is the same in principle as the Wright method of warpi

lculated by President Lambert of the St. Louis Aero Club, with the aid of a sextant. Earlier in the same day Mr. Brookins had risen about 2,000 feet. It becomes increasingly difficult for an aeroplane to rise to great heights owing to rarefactio

lériot, Paulhan, and Curtiss, have tended to distract attention from the original inventors, and to produce some confusion in the popular mind as to the exact share the various aviators have taken in the conquest of the air. The facts, however, are quite clear

e airship in a far fuller sense than, for example, Fulton was the inventor of the steamboat, or Stephenson of the locomotive, or Morse of the telegraph. To their success, and to that alone, must be ascri

ing over New York Har

from New York to San Francisco, or from New York to London, will be carrying out the work of the Dayton pioneers; and no future accomplishment of the heavier-than-air machine can possibly rank in historical importance with that first flight in the presence of witnesses made December 17, 1903. Then and there it was succ

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is from an article on "The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane," by Orvil

nce of aeronautics, and was the first to offer a trophy for long-distance flying-a trophy that was won for the years 1908 and 1909 by Mr. Glenn H. Curtiss. The Wright bro

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